Aftermath
by darylsdiva1
Summary: In the aftermath of the first battle in the All Out War with Negan, Carol has four men vying for her attention.
1. Chapter 1

This will never happen on the show in a million years, but as I watched the Finale last night I realized that all 4 of the most often mentioned potential M/F ships for Carol were all in Alexandria at the same time...

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 _Spoilers for S7 Finale._ _  
From the episode, if you watch closely, right after Aaron gives Jerry the apple, the camera pans left over to show Tobin seated to the side getting his arm bandaged. Then Carol comes into frame from the right, looking in that direction, but she deliberately turns away and sees Morgan sitting on the steps and goes to join him. Also in the Sasha funeral scene if you freeze it, you can see Daryl flanked by Rick on one side and Carol slightly behind him on the other. Those two hopeful Caryl signs inspired this story._

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Aftermath 

"He was looking for you." Morgan said, a few quiet minutes after Carol had settled onto the step beside him.

Carol glanced up and across the street where Tobin was still sitting, chatting with the pretty woman from Hilltop who had just finished bandaging his arm at the ad hoc outdoor first aid station next to the Infirmary.

Morgan's eyes followed hers.

"Not him." he said, twisting his stick in his grip.

Several people on the street startled as Shiva's roar was heard in the near distance, but Carol and Morgan merely smiled. It had been something seeing the big cat in action today, but it had been even more impressive when after the carnage she calmly allowed her master to collar her again, rubbing her jaw along his arm, scent marking him as her property.

"Him neither." Morgan shook his head from side to side.

Carol knew who he meant.

It wasn't that she hadn't seen Daryl—she'd stood next to him at Sasha's funeral service—but they hadn't spoken. Daryl's anger and frustration that Negan had escaped even after Sasha had sacrificed her life to end him had been coming off of him in waves.

She understood Daryl, perhaps better than anyone else, and she knew that he needed time in the aftermath of the battle to process everything that had happened. What had been said—or rather _remained unsaid_ when he had visited her little house outside of the Kingdom—made the implications of seeing her charging in all white knight with Ezekiel and Morgan something that he wasn't capable of dealing with right now.

"He'll find me when it's the right time." Carol said in a voice more calm than she really felt.

"He'll want to know if you're staying." Morgan asserted, "If you're really home... are you?"

"Are you?" Carol turned it around on him.

"Ezekiel asked me to come back to the Kingdom with him and get ready for the next phase." he told her.

"He trusts you." Carol nodded.

"You too." Morgan reminded her, implying that she'd be asked to do the same.

Carol frowned, but nodded in agreement, closing her eyes and putting her face in her hands wearily. She knew that the King probably expected her to return with him to help prepare the people and to plan the next phase. That would probably be the best choice, the cleanest one. Take herself out of the equation here in Alexandria. Ezekiel would have Morgan and her as advisors just as Rick had Michonne and Daryl; just as Maggie had Jesus and... Sasha...

The woman's bravery still stunned her. To take her own life on the outside chance she could take out Negan? It had given them all hope. Life out of death. Good out of bad...

" _Shit."_ Morgan's one word epithet made her look up.

From across the street Tobin had stood and started towards her with a determined look in his eyes.

From their left, Ezekiel was walking down the street with Shiva on her chain pacing by his side, also heading right for them.

From their right, Daryl came out of the Infirmary where Rick and Tara sat by Michonne and Rosita as they lay recuperating. Daryl spotted Morgan and Carol and immediately changed his long-legged stride to head right for their porch perch.

" _Triple_ shit." Carol muttered.

"I can handle this—you go." Morgan said quietly, picking up his stick and rising.

"I think I've done enough running, don't you?" Carol said, blowing out a breath and standing.

The three men all reached the porch at about the same moment. Tobin towered over the other two, but looked a bit abashed at the combination of a King, a tiger and Daryl's death glare. Still he took a step forward and spoke first.

"I just wanted..." he began but faltered, looking at the other men on either side of him. "Just wanted to say I'm glad you're okay." then he frowned at Morgan, who had stayed close to Carol, like a sentinel, as if he was trying to puzzle out why she had been sitting with the Zen master.

"Thank you. You did well—in the fight—I saw you." Carol said kindly and then gestured to his bandaged wounded arm. "You okay?"

"Just a graze." he told her, shrugging his shoulders and looking down at his boots.

"That's good." Carol said, giving him a small quick smile.

During this conversation Ezekiel was watching Daryl, not Carol nor Morgan nor even Tobin. He noted with great interest the clenched jaw, narrowed eyes, and a sense of barely controlled emotion radiating from the other man. When she'd first come to the Kingdom he'd accused Carol of running from love...

"Glad you're back." Tobin said, his eyes rising to meet hers, "If you need a place to stay..." he offered, but a low growl stopped him from continuing, his eyes darting right.

It hadn't come from the tiger.

To smooth over the moment, Ezekiel held out his hand to Tobin.

"I give you thanks for your offer of shelter, good man, but Rick has invited us to the evening repast, and then we will be returning to the Kingdom." Ezekiel said to Tobin, who looked crestfallen, but took the offered hand and shook it.

The low growl came again, this time louder.

This time all eyes went to Daryl, who shifted his feet nervously under the scrutiny, but held his ground.

Tobin frowned.

Morgan grinned.

Carol tilted her head.

Ezekiel raised an inquisitive brow.

Shiva pulled on her chain trying to get to the Archer, giving a loud rasping purr and Ezekiel loosened his hold on her chain.

Tobin staggered back out of the big cat's way, his eyes wide.

Shiva ducked her head under Daryl's hand, forcing him to pet her in typically feline demand. When he trailed his hand over her head, scratching her ears, she purred in contentment and rubbed her jaw against his side. Then she raised her head and made a low chuffing noise, looking directly at Carol, drawing everyone's attention to the woman on the steps.

" _Carol?"_ Daryl asked softly in a roughened low bass, his voice strained by all the shouted commands he'd given during the battle.

Carol looked into Daryl's eyes. What she saw there propelled her forward, down off the steps.

Pushing past Shiva, Daryl met Carol halfway in a sweeping embrace that lifted her off her feet, gently cradling her head in his right hand and burrowing his face into her neck.

Tobin stood staring dumbly at the couple.

Ezekiel exchanged a questioning look with Morgan, who smiled and nodded. The Kingdom leader sighed in resignation and gave Shiva's chain a tug as he turned and started back down the street. The big cat fell into step on his left side.

Morgan came off the steps and put his hand on Tobin's shoulder, directing him down the street to follow after the King.

Carol and Daryl remained in place. Words and plans would come later, but for now, in the aftermath, in each other's arms, all was right with their world.

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Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2: For Real

_A misunderstanding leads to confusion in the on-going process of regrouping in the aftermath of the battle with Negan_.

Thought this one was done, but this idea wouldn't let me go. The prompt was a GIF set I saw that a Darsus shipper did of Jesus watching Aaron & Eric and then looking at Daryl speculatively while they were on the Oceanside mission.

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For Real

"So you used to go out with him?" Jesus asked Aaron, his brooding gaze focused on Daryl, who was helping Diane from Kingdom and Tara shore up a section of the wooden wall parapets that had been weakened in the firefight with Negan.

Jesus and Aaron were working to pick up spent shells in the grass that had been scattered all over the place in the fire fight with Negan and his turncoat allies. Each one found made a metallic clink as it dropped into the five gallon pails they carried. When Ezekiel revealed that they had a reloading set-up back at Kingdom, salvaging as many shell casings as possible became an important task.

The Archer had traded his sweat soaked dark blue shirt—the one out of Jesus' own laundry at Hilltop—for a faded blue plaid with the sleeves roughly ripped away. His bronzed biceps gleamed with the effort of lifting and holding the heavy wooden centering in place while the women hammered in the pegs to lock it there. Tara was teasing him about trading places since he know more about _putting pegs in holes_ and Daryl unexpectedly blushed as he grunted good naturedly and told her to _fuck off._

"Back before Negan, yeah." Aaron said, his appreciative eyes on Daryl as well. There was no sin in looking...

"But now you go out with Eric." Jesus said, shifting his feet and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Actually, I went out with Eric before Daryl and his people came to Alexandria." Aaron said abstractly, sighing a bit as he watched the sweat trickle down the cords of Daryl's neck as he strained to keep the beam in place, and slide over his collarbone to disappear in the v of his half open shirt.

"Oh?" Jesus side-eyed Aaron. "So you dumped Eric for Daryl?"

"Eric was hurt last time we went out and I didn't want him to get hurt again." Aaron explained. "When Daryl showed up I could tell right away he had what it took. Invited him to dinner and afterwards I asked him."

"It was that easy?" Jesus frowned mightily and turned his head towards Aaron.

"He did take a bit of convincing. Told him Eric and I felt like outsiders here too." Aaron grinned in remembrance, "Think it helped that I threw in the motorcycle."

"Not sure I have that much to offer..." Jesus said self-deprecatingly, turning back to look at Daryl.

Dixon and the women had finished their task and were taking a break. The silver haired woman who'd charged into the battle with Ezekiel was there, pulling a Radio Flyer red wagon filled with a couple of coolers carrying iced bottled water and lemonade. She handed out the drinks and both men watching gave a little sighing chuckle when Daryl dumped an entire bottle of water over his own head and then shook it off like a hound, making the woman squeal at him in surprised disgust at the impromptu half sweaty shower. The women armed themselves and using the plastic bottle like squirt guns, all aimed at the culprit who had soaked them.

Someone cleared their throat behind them.

Reluctant to take their eyes off the spectacle of Daryl Dixon having a water fight with three laughing women and getting the worst of it, they initially ignored the man who joined them in watching.

"He's sex on a stick, isn't he?" Eric murmured, making Aaron chuckle in agreement and reach back for his partner's hand to pull him up next to them.

Daryl's soaked shirt and pants clung to every taut molded plane of muscle in his back, chest and ass as he chased the women to return fire, re-arming himself with fresh bottles whenever he ran out and trying to keep them from doing the same at the coolers. The silver haired woman proved wilier and waiting until he was distracted by Diane and Tara, snuck in and grabbed a handful of ice, which she proceeded to shove down the back of Daryl's shirt.

Daryl swore, stopped and spun almost instantaneously, catching her off guard. He grabbed for her waist with his right hand while scooping up ice with his left, intending pay back.

The shocked look of heat on her face to find herself in his arms should've turned the ice he held into steam. Instead he dropped it and that hand joined the other holding her waist in a tight grip.

Carol reached up and pushed Daryl's wet hair off his face so she could see his eyes and let her hands rest on his broad shoulders. They just stood there, soaking wet and staring at one another.

Diane and Tara exchanged a grin and by mutual silent consent backed away, grabbing a couple of lemonades and heading to the next section of wall where a tree promised a place for a shady break.

Focused only on each other, Carol and Daryl didn't even notice.

"Who is—what is she to him?" Jesus asked, confused.

"Pretty much everything." Aaron said quietly. "That's _Carol_."

"The woman who ran away from here?" Jesus frowned. He remembered Morgan pulling Rick and Daryl aside to talk about it when they'd arrived in the Kingdom, but it hadn't seemed important at the time. From what he understood she was some BAMF warrior queen who'd come out of Atlanta with Rick and had saved them all from cannibals or something. He'd expected Wonder Woman, not some pretty but middle aged soccer mom...

"Looks like she stopped running." Eric said.

"He never mentioned her—not the whole time we were at Hilltop, Kingdom, Oceanside, or back here..." Jesus' confused look encompassed both Aaron and Eric. Not that Daryl said much of anything at all, ever, but he thought they'd started a friendship of sorts, had connected, and he'd started thinking that maybe...

"Daryl's not a talker. He's in his head a lot—he can act rashly, but he's also a _thinker_ about the important stuff—maybe too much so. Loses chances waiting for everything to line up." Aaron said. He'd seen how Daryl had closed down emotionally when Carol was with Tobin, willing to give up any claim if it meant she was happy. He'd also seen Daryl's desperation when the Saviors had taken her and Maggie; his pride in her when following trail she'd laid for them; and his relief at finding her alive.

Daryl leaned in, so tentative it was heartbreaking, and then Carol closed the gap by stretching up on her toes, touching her lips to his, and they both melted into the kiss.

Eric cleared his throat again and then he and Aaron turned away to give the couple some privacy.

"So he's _bi_?" Jesus asked, sounding even more confused, still staring as the kiss deepened.

"What?" Aaron frowned.

"You said you used to go out with him." Jesus said, his brow furrowed deeply, finally turning away and looking at the other two men, "First he's with you and now he's with her?"

"Go out _recruiting_." Aaron said, holding in a chuckle that threatened to burst free. He didn't want to embarrass the man from Hilltop, but this was pretty hilarious as far as misunderstandings went. "Eric was my _recruiting_ partner until he broke his ankle on the mission when we found Rick's group and then I asked Deanna to let me ask Daryl to take over his place."

" _Shit."_ Jesus blurted, dropping his face to his hand. He'd gotten it all wrong. Thank God he'd never made a pass at the Archer. Daryl probably would've stabbed him...

"Man, your gaydar is _way_ off." Eric said, making a tsking noise, lightly teasing.

"No, I can see it—Dixon's got a certain _'I'm really vulnerable behind the bad ass'_ vibe that could get you going." Aaron opined. He was as faithful as the day is long to Eric, but he wasn't blind to Daryl's appeal by any means.

"And you know... sex? Stick?" Eric also reminded them of his earlier evaluation of Daryl's hotness, elbowing Aaron and looking over at where Daryl was now helping Carol pick up the discarded empty water bottles from their all-out water war, both looking flustered but incredibly happy.

Jesus followed their gazes just in time to see Dixon bend over to grab another bottle, those wet pants stretching tight over the rounded curve of what he'd imagined to be a creamy slice of heaven...

" _Fuck'n A."_ Jesus forced his eyes shut, muttering _, "Lead me not into temptation."_ He didn't need this; crushing on a man who was already involved only led to someone getting hurt, usually _him_. He only went for quick, no strings hook ups—no hearts endangered, no harm no foul and a good time was had by all. Like he'd told Maggie, he didn't do the _for real_ long term emotional shit.

"I doubt he'll be heading back to Hilltop." Aaron said with a commiserating smile, touching his arm to draw Jesus' attention. "If she's _here,_ _he's_ here."

Carol's refreshment wagon now set to rights, Daryl stood in front of her, feet shifting nervously until she took his hands in hers, leaned up to whisper something in his ear and then kissed his cheek. Keeping her close with a grip on their interlinked hands, Daryl gave her a brief sweet kiss and then released her. When she turned and headed towards the three men who'd been watching, she inadvertently drew Daryl's attention to them and he blushed, realizing they'd been observing.

"You fuckers don't got no work to do?" Daryl yelled, all embarrassed bluster in full bloom, gesturing at them with a wave of his muscular arm before stomping off towards his work crew.

"I'll see you later _, Pookie_." Carol called back without turning to look at him, a serene smile gracing her lovely face.

Daryl stopped and looked back at her with a look of pure befuddled adoration before rubbing the back of his neck with a snort and continuing on his way.

"And how are you gentlemen this fine day?" Carol asked, coming to a halt in front of them.

"Glad you're back, Carol." Eric said warmly, opening his arms for a hug. "No cookies today?"

Carol laughed lightly and returned the hug and then the one Aaron offered before answering.

"Just drinks." She smiled and said firmly, "I think my baking days are over for the time being."

" _You're_ the cookie maker?" Jesus said, a light of understanding dawning in his eyes.

"And you're Jesus, the one who took Rick and everyone to the Kingdom." Carol said, and surprised him by pulling him into a hug too _. "Thank you."_ she added quietly just before releasing him, _"For bringing him to me."_

When he pulled back and looked into her eyes, he saw that they were shining with gratitude, happiness and most of all _hope._

"Uh—sure. No worries." Jesus said, ducking his head, overwhelmed by the quiet intensity of her joy.

After serving them all drinks Carol moved on. As they watched her in the distance stopping and greeting the next group, Jesus turned to Aaron.

"They're really in love aren't they?" he asked, a bit in awe. "Like _for real_..."

"For real." Aaron agreed.

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 _Thanks for reading!_


End file.
